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Westpac sued over Uniting Church employee theft

Chris Vedelago

The Uniting Church alleges that Westpac failed to stop the theft despite the forging of withdrawal forms and cheques. Photo: Bloomberg

Westpac is being sued by representatives of the Uniting Church of Australia after the bank allegedly failed to prevent the theft of more than $4 million from its charitable accounts.

The seven-year scam run by a former Uniting Church employee saw funds drained from the accounts of several Melbourne churches and out-reach programs that include the Hotham Parish Council, Asylum Seeker Project and Mark the Evangelist.

A spokeswoman for the Uniting Church said the legal action had been initiated in the church’s name by an insurance company, which has paid out the full amount of money that was stolen. The church said that no programs were affected by the theft.

‘‘As is the case with many fraudsters, they are adept at covering their tracks for often substantial periods of time,’’ the spokeswoman said.

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The move comes after the alleged perpetrator, Tanya Jane King, took her own life earlier this year before facing a criminal charge of obtaining financial advantage by deception.

The writ filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria alleges that Westpac failed to stop the theft despite Ms King forging withdrawal forms and cheques in the names of people who were not authorised by the church to access the accounts.

‘‘(Westpac) failed to exercise reasonable care in the conduct and management of the (Church’s) accounts,’’ according to court documents.

Westpac spokesman Danny John said: "As this matter is before the court, Westpac is unable to go into detail about the specifics of the case, However, in cases where there is a proven fraud and liability, we are quick to appropriately compensate customers."

Despite Ms King allegedly rorting more $4 million between 2004 and 2011, the theft was only discovered in mid-2011 during an annual audit of the church’s accounts.

Sean Denham & Associates, the accountancy firm that discovered the ‘‘discrepancies’’, is also named as a defendant in the suit for ‘‘negligence’’ in failing to detect the fraud for nearly seven years.

Victoria Police charged Ms King in mid-2011 and the Department of Public Prosecutions moved to confiscate her assets, which included a BMW X33 and a large home in Lower Plenty bought for $935,000 in 2008. Only $8576 in cash was found and the property had a mortgage of more than $240,000. Ms King also owned a children’s clothing business called Sparkle T that held $16.78 in a Westpac account, ASIC and court documents show.

The writ alleges that the fraudulent withdrawls and cheques were made out to Ms King and to others for her personal benefit.

The Uniting Church said the a range of policies have been established in the organisation to prevent a similar fraud from occurring again, including a whistleblower policy.